The German term “Leitkultur” (literally meaning guiding or leading culture) was introduced by the political scientist Bassam Tibi in 1996. He defined “Leitkultur” as a “European consensus” on the values of democracy, secularism, enlightenment, human rights and civil society. In the beginning of the 2000s, the term entered the political debate on migration and integration in Germany and has been contested since. Especially conservative politicians demand that migrants and their descendants acknowledge a “German Leitkultur” although there is no scientific evidence of such a phenomenon. Advocates for a “German Leitkultur” argue that there is a generalizable German culture and a societal consensus on values which is often referred to as Christian or Western culture. Underlying this demand is a static understanding of culture as a homogenous German way of living and thinking. However, while the idea of German “Leitkultur” is a recent construct, the heterogeneous ways of living and thinking in Germany have developed over centuries through diverse influences.